Daijiworld Media Network

London, Jul 23 : Day one belonged to England. Everything went right for Cook and Co. Their skipper won the toss and opted to bat on a wicket that was flat. Cook led from the front with the bat, scoring his 29th Test ton and hence equalling Sir Don Bradman. It was one of his most fluent hundreds as he got it off just 157 balls. On the other end, Joe Root put up a masterclass. A flawless hundred which had everything in it. There were different gears to Root's innings. Started aggressively, then mellowed down and again went on the attack. He still remains at the crease and England will want him to convert it into a 'Daddy Hundred.'

Meanwhile, it was a long hard day for Pakistan, which was not made easy by their fielders, who put down a couple of chances. Amir was the pick of the bowlers with two wickets, should have had more if not for the drops. World's No. 1 Test bowler - Yasir Shah had a forgettable day. The leggie bowled the majority of the overs and went for over 100 without picking a wicket. The visitors need to come up with a gameplan to bowl England out early, otherwise they will be playing catch up for the rest of the game. We are almost close to the start of play.

Day 1: Just when the players walked out in the first session, Bumble mumbled 'It's a batting day.' He was absolutely spot on. Alastair Cook and Joe Root have had a ball in the middle with their willows dictating terms for most part of the day. Both compiled tons and showed some urgency at the crease. Hales, Vince, Ballance....all 3 gifted their wickets away and surely will curse themselves for not making it count given the batting-friendly conditions.
Pakistan's fielding woes continued and so did their occasional errant bowling. Wahab Riaz, in particular, looked lackadaisical and bowled as many as 7 no balls. Amir, the bowler of the day and Root with no doubts is the batsman of the day IMO. Tomorrow should be more fun. Yep! No mention of Yasir because the World's number one bowler has conceded 111 runs and picked no wickets. Saturday's calling